The spring lamb trade is kicking off at €6/kg this year, a far cry from the starting point last year where quotes were in excess of €6.50/kg. Supplies of spring lamb are low as of yet, with only 63 killed last week.

Just two factories have officially quoted for spring lambs in our table this week. The remaining processors said they received no enquiries for the sale of spring lambs from farmers yet and they claim there has been no enquiries from their customers yet either.

Farmers with early lambs will be hopeful that when supplies increase, processors will be more competitive and prices might increase.

Some early lambing producers are opting to kill younger lambs because some factories have access to a niche market for these younger fleshed lambs.

Again this year, Kepak Athleague and Irish Country Meats are in the market for milk lambs. In Kepak, quotes for carcase weights of 9kg to 13kg are starting at €8.00/kg. A spokesperson for Irish Country Meats said they are interested in milk lambs this year, but buying will be closer to Easter. They said official quotes will be available then.

Hogget trade

The hogget trade has steadied after rising gradually over a number of weeks. Farmers are being paid €5.05/kg for non-quality assured (QA) lots to €5.10/kg for QA hoggets. Earlier in the week, frequent sellers and producer groups secured €5.20/kg, but this became more difficult to achieve as the week progressed.

These more frequent sellers are securing a lower price of €5.15/kg. The fact that there are fewer kill days with St Patrick’s Day falling this Friday may have reduced processors’ appetites for hoggets.

The total sheep kill was low again last week at 46,242 head, down 377 on the same period last year. This is helping to maintain demand. Factory agents have claimed that the quality of hoggets is very variable, with hoggets presented for sale being either too heavy or tail-end poor-quality lots being offloaded.

IFA national sheep committee chair John Lynskey said the Department figures show that we have processed an additional 53,955 sheep to date this year, meaning that any surplus or overhang is now gone out of the system.

Cull ewes

Cull ewe prices remain steady with factory quotes ranging from €2.70/kg to €2.80/kg. Some frequent sellers are securing €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg.

In the north, hoggets are moving at £4.10/kg (€4.95/kg) to £4.15/kg (€5.00/kg). Some frequent sellers have secured £4.20/kg (€5.06/kg). Quality is also becoming an issue in northern plants, with some pointing to above-average numbers of hoggets killing out at fat class 2.

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Cull ewes in demand at marts